SMU and San Diego State pitched as the two top options for the Pac-12 if they expand

The Pac-12 have a couple good options to replace the two programs from Los Angeles

It appears that as the new year begins we are circling back around to one of the most interesting aspects of 2022.

A storyline that turned the country upside in college football expansion is beginning to reheat. USC and UCLA pulled a move similar to that of Texas and Oklahoma's, and out of absolutely nowhere announced that they were fleeing their conference for what they see as greener pastures. 

This led to an onslaught of rumors as to who will join their conference as replacements, and even went as far as people questioning when the Pac-12 would collapse. Something that did seem imminent at first, especially considering the fact that the Big 12 was able to add four high quality programs, but has since been proven to not be true, at least for the foreseeable future.

This has left the conference out West with 10 teams, and possibly looking to add more members. Now, if you have been following this story at all you know that the conference has been far from aggressive as they are in the process of securing a media rights deal first. It has been made abundantly clear that the television/streaming deal comes first, and expansion should they choose to do so comes second.

Now, it is widely expected that the conference will expand sometime in the near future, and the teams that are a fit have been a frequent topic of discussion but two have stood out as the must-haves. These two programs may not break the scale when you consider that the Pac-12 could have added a handful of Big 12 teams a year ago, but they will still be nice additions.

Pac-12 insider Jon Wilner recently identified both San Diego State and SMU as the two top candidates to replace USC and UCLA. San Diego State has always been considered to be one of the teams atop of the waiting list and now is their time to shine as Wilner explained:

“I think San Diego State’s probably No. 1 because it’s a pretty good media market and also, the Pac-12 needs to have a campus in Southern California,” Wilner said on The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday. “That is the prime recruiting territory. If they don’t invite San Diego State, the Big 12 probably will. Brett Yormark’s made no secret about trying to get schools in the Pacific time zone. “So, if San Diego State’s out there and available, the Big 12’s going to take them. That would leave two Big Ten teams in L.A. and a Big 12 team in San Diego, and that would not be good for Pac-12 recruiting in Southern California. I think San Diego State is pretty much a must-add.”

He suggested that the conference could very well stay at 11 teams, but similar to what I have been preaching throughout this process, when a market like Dallas is available you have to jump. SMU is in the heart of one of the biggest recruiting hotbeds in the country and is a huge market, something that Wilner reiterated saying:

“My guess is if they went with a 12th — and they don’t have to add a 12th, I don’t think, because if you don’t have football divisions, you could play with an odd number. But if they do add a 12th, I think SMU might be at the top of the list,” Wilner said. “Because I think that they would like to get into Dallas for recruiting and also for the media market just to kind of expand the conference footprint.

While some contest that the two schools will not add the same value as the two programs lost, that is a given. It is all about adding as much value as possible while also staying competitive as a conference. Wilner touched on the importance of adding two more teams saying:

“One thing it does is it gives you inventory because if you’ve got more teams, you can play more games that satisfy the media partners’ need for programming,” Wilner said. “I think that that’s certainly part of it, especially if there’s a desire on the part of ESPN or Amazon to have Pac-12 games every Friday night at 9 or 10:00 Eastern when there’s no competition, they need schools.

He continued saying:

“If you’ve only got 10, then everybody’s playing more frequently on Friday night, for example. If you’ve got 12, you can spread it out more. So I think part of it is just the inventory play, strength in numbers. Look, San Diego State, they’ve got a better basketball program than a lot of schools in the Pac-12, and I think the conference feels like both of those schools meet the criteria academically [and] can eventually become more competitive, up to a Power 5 level.”

It would certainly be a different looking Pac-12, but in this day and age in college football it is all about surviving and advancing.